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SPORTS

Friday, December 26, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/SARATOGIAN AND TWITTER.COM/SARATOGIANNEWS

saratogian.com

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Hetzke has made major impact

Sienas happy-go-lucky freshman as
talented in classroom as in gym
By Laura Amato
lamato@digitalfirstmedia.com
@LauraAmato on Twitter

Margot Hetzke is
just so happy to be here.
The Siena freshman, who has
had an almost indescribale impact on the womens basketball
team over the past month and a
half, could talk for literal hours,
on how much she loves competing, her hopes, dreams and aspirations for the future and, perhaps most importantly, how generally fond she is of the entire
human race.
LOUDONVILLE >>

For all intents and purposes,

Hetzke is, quite simply, a very
happy person.
But how the Penfield native,
and four-time MAAC Rookie of
the Week, translates that raw happiness into a competitive streak
as wide as her nearly perpetual
smile, is a different story all together.
Ever since I was little, my
mom always says that I really
havent changed much, and I
think pretty much all my energy
comes from other people, Hetzke said. Im really bad about re-

BY THE NUMBERS
MARGOT HETZKE

FYI: The 5-foot-11 freshman forward

averages 15 points and eight rebounds per game for the Saints, who
play at home vs. Colgate on Sunday.

Im really bad about

relaxing. When Im
relaxing, Im just
like, well, lets sit
here and talk. Ill
chat forever.
SIENA COLLEGE PHOTO

Siena freshman forward Margot Hetzke averages 15 points

and eight rebounds per game for he Saints.

HETZKE PAGE 5

BOYS SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR

MARVIN RATES
AS AREAS BEST

- Siena freshman forward Margot Hetzke

Online: Siena schedule,

stats and schedule.

NBA

Wall,
Wizards
outclass
Knicks
By Brian Mahoney
The Associated Press

John Wall is fast and

f lashy, a showman who practices 360-degree layups and then
pulls them off in games.
And when he gets pushed, he
pushes back.
Wall had 24 points and 11
assists, eluding the Knicks all
day until getting knocked to
the floor by a flagrant foul that
sparked an altercation, and the
Washington Wizards beat New
York 102-91 on Thursday.
Wall toyed with the Knicks for
3 1/2 quarters, highlighted by his
spinning layup, before Quincy
Acy knocked him down with a
forearm shove with 5:31 to play.
Wall got up and pushed Acy, who
responded with what appeared
to be a punch that hit Wall behind the neck. Acy was ejected in
the Christmas Day dust-up, and
Wall received a technical foul.
Im just a feisty guy that likes
to compete, Wall said. And I
want to win games.
Washington won this one
easily, leading by as many as 22
and never trailing. Bradley Beal
added 17 points for the Wizards,
who had their top five of Wall,
Beal, Paul Pierce, Nene and Marcin Gortat in the starting lineup
for the first time this season.
We came out with a lot of energy, ready to go from the start,
Beal said, and its just going to
continue to get better and better
as the season goes on.
Carmelo Anthony scored 34
points for the Knicks, who fell
to 5-26 and have the most losses
in the NBA. They have dropped
six straight and 16 of 17.
The fans are dying. Were dying. Were out there not producing, Anthony said.
Wall was dazzling in what
could be a warmup for a trip
to Madison Square Garden for
the February All-Star game.
He was the leading vote-getter among Eastern Conference
guards when the first returns of
fan balloting were released earlier Thursday.
NEW YORK >>

J.S.CARRAS - JCARRAS@DIGITALFIRSTMEDIA.COM

Shenendehowas Tucker Marvin handles ball ahead of Shakers Pat Mahoney during first half of high school boys soccer action Thursday,
October 16, 2014 at Shenendehowa in Clifton Park, N.Y..

Shen captains unslfish move to midfield

worked well for Plainsmen
By David M. Johnson
djohnson@digitalfirstmedia.com
@davidmichael10 on Twitter

When Tucker Marvin moved to

the Capital District with his family in sixth grade, he was already
a soccer junkie who had dreams
of playing at the college level.
He couldnt have picked a better soccer environment to land
than Clifton Park.
Marvin is The Saratogians
2014 Boys Soccer Player of the
Year for his part in Shenendehowas Section II Class AA championship and ensuing run to the
state final four.
Like many Plainsmen players,
Marvin has the skill and soccer
IQ to play nearly any position

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

TUCKER MARVIN

FYI: The Shen senior captain was

a force for the Plainsmen when he
moved to the defensive midfield.
on the pitch. If he played every
match as a striker this season he
would likely have been the teams
top scorer. Individual glory is not
what the team needed though.
Third-year Shenendehowa
coach Jon Bain tried two different formations before dropping
Marvin back to be the lone defensive midfielder in front of four defenders.
The senior captain took the
MARVIN PAGE 3

STAN HUDY @STANHUDY ON TWITTER

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake defender William Clark has a handful

of Shenendehowa forward Tucker Marvins uniform during the
first half of Tuesdays Suburban Council tilt at Shenendehowa.
Inside: Coach of the Year, large and small school
capsules. Page 3.

THE SCORE
WIZARDS 102, KNICKS 91

Up next: New York, which has

one victory in its past 10 games,
plays Saturday at the Sacramento
Kings. Tip-off is 10 p.m.

AHL

HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER

NBA

NBA

New OT rule creates a

buzz

The Saratogian's Boys

Soccer All-Area Team

Thunder get better of

Spurs in matinee

LeBron James returns

to South Beach

The new overtime rule in the

American Hockey League this
season is generating plenty of
buzz and just may be coming
soon to an NHL rink near you.
It's seven minutes long or
until someone scores.

Shen's Jon Bain had a banner season and is coach of

the year. There's also players
capsules for large and small
schools, photos, second team
and honorable mention selections.

Russell Westbrook scored 34

points, and the Oklahoma City
Thunder beat the San Antonio
Spurs 114-106 on Thursday
in a fiery rematch of last
season's Western Conference
Finals.

LeBron James was running

the gamut of emotions Thursday when he arrived at the
arena that he called home for
the past four seasons. So did
the fans who were seeing him
as a member of the Cavs.

FULL STORY ON PAGE 2

FULL STORY ON PAGE 3

FULL STORY ON PAGE 2

FULL STORY ONLINE

B3

ALL-AREA BOYS SOCCER

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2014

First Team
Ethan Daly

James Homan

Tucker Marvin

Tom Osborne

Connor DeFilippis

Ian Cepiel

Liam Rice

Alec Potter

Matt Saddlemire

Miles Burbank

Tyler Murray

SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS

Saratoga Springs, senior defense

Stats: 6 goals, 4 assists
Honors: 1st team Suburban
Council all-star
Notable: Injuries forced Daly
from midfield to defense but
the senior captain showed his
versatility by excelling at the
position. He was also a threat
going forward, scoring the winning goal against rival Ballston
Spa in the Act With Respect
Cup match. Dalys passing vision helped him pick out open
teammates anywhere on the
field.

Shenendehowa, senior defense

Stats: 3 goals, part of 400plus minute playoff shutout
streak
Notable: Osborne was one
half of the most reliable center
back pairing in Section II along
with James Homan. The senior
also got up to score two goals
against Averill Park and the
winning goal in Shenendehowas Section II semifinal vs.
Guilderland. The squad went on
to win its first Section II Class
AA title since 2011 and make a
run to the state final four.

Saratoga Central Catholic,

senior forward
Stats: 22 goals, 6 assists
Honors: 5th team Class C
All-State, 1st team Western
Athletic Conference North allstars
Notable: As the most talented player in the Western
Athletic Conference, Rice was
often double or triple teamed
in matches. That didnt stop
him from scoring more than 20
goals and creating many quality
scoring opportunities for teammates. Rice will continue his
career at Merrimack College.

Shenendehowa, senior midfield

Stats: 6 goals, 8 assists
Honors: 1st team Suburban
Council all-star, 1st team AllState
Notable: The most creative
player in a loaded Shenendehowa midfield was tasked with
both scoring goals and setting
them up for others. The senior
took most of the Plainsmen free
kicks and had the assist from the
corner kick goal in the Section II
Class AA final. Burbank will continue his soccer career at Division
I Binghamton next fall.

Shenendehowa, senior defense

Stats: 4 goals, part of 400plus minute playoff shutout
streak
Honors: 1st team Suburban
Council all-star
Notable: Of the four goals
Homan scored his senior year,
none was bigger than his
header that gave Shenendehowa a 1-0 win over Niskayuna
in the Section II Class AA final.
The senior captain was a rare
three-year varsity starter for
the Plainsmen and a leader on
and off the field for coach Jon
Bain.

Ballston Spa, junior forward

Stats: 12 goals, 6 assists
Honors: 1st team Suburban
Council all-star
Notable: An ideal striker for
any coach, DeFilippis is big,
strong, fast and highly skilled.
The junior had a knack for receiving the ball in the space in
front of defenses, then looking
to turn and shoot or dribble at
the goal. DeFilippis scored a
goal in a Ballston Spas 3-2 win
over Shenendehowa and tallied
two goals and an assist in a
playoff win against CBA.

Schuylerville, senior midfield

Stats: 16 goals, 8 assists
Honors: 1st team Foothills Council all-star
Notable: Saddlemire ensured
Schuylervilles first season in the
Foothills Council was a winning
one. The senior captain could
find space for a shot when it
appeared there was none or slide
an pass to an open teammate.
Above all, Saddlemire played
harder for longer than anyone
else on the pitch. He scored
twice in the Black Horses dramatic Section II Class B
quarterfinal win.

Saratoga Springs, senior goalkeeper

Stats: 5 shutouts
Notable: The Saratoga Springs
senior captain posted five
shutouts and dozens of fine
saves to lead Saratoga Springs
to a winning record and its
first playoff victory since 2010.
Murray was also the rare goalie
who could be trusted to make
the decision with the ball at his
feet, whether it was passing to
an open Blue Streaks player or
clearing the ball out of harms
way.

Bain played role of chess master

By David M. Johnson
djohnson@digitalfirstmedia.
com
@davidmichael10 on Twitter

SARATOGIAN FILE PHOTO

Shenendehowa varsity soccer coach Jonathan Bain spoke

at a press conference announcing his selection in 2012.
He led the Plainsmen to a sectional title and the state final
four in 2014.
side back again the seniorladen Plainsmen bought into
Bains tactics.
It was great because the
first year they were sophomores just be happy to be
on varsity team, Bain said.
As seniors maturity took
over and they realized this is
what we need to do. Through
much of our sectional run we
played mistake-free.
Shenendheowas 400plus minute playoff shut-

Stillwater, senior forward

Stats: 56 goals, 8 assists
Honors: 4th team Class C AllState, Wasaren League MVP,
set Section II single season
scoring record (56 goals)
Notable: Cepiel was the key figure for the Warriors in their most
success year in program history.
The captain used his outlandish
speed and shot to create scoring
opportunities for himself all season. Stillwater finished 17-1, won
the Wasaren League title and
ended the year as the No. 6 Class
C team in the state.

South Glens Falls, senior

midfielder-forward
Stats: 23 goals, 8 assists
Honors: 1st team Foothills
Council all-star
Notable: After two years of
falling short in the final, Potter
led the Bulldogs to the Section II
Class A championship his senior
year. The senior caused headaches for whichever defender
was playing on the same side of
the field he was. Whether it was
cutting to the middle for a shot
or dribbling to the byline and getting a cross off, Potter changed
matches with his play.

COACH OF THE YEAR

The best system for a Jon

Bain-coached soccer team
is one that wins.
To find that one, the
third year varsity coach
wasnt afraid to move players to different positions or
shift formations to ensure
Shenendehowa was the
team in control of the ball,
and the outcome.
As a result, the Plainsmen won their first Section
II Class AA title since 2011,
made a run to the state final four and Bain is The
Saratogians 2014 Coach of
the Year.
This group ... a good
percentage of them have
been with me since I took
over the program (in 2012),
Bain said. This year we
played three different formations and many of them
played different positions.
Once Bain found the
right formula, the Plainsmen were nearly impossible to break down.
The team had long
stretches in many games
in which it held possession
of the ball to probe the defense for openings. When
there was a turnover, no
team worked harder to get
the ball back.
And whether it was Tucker
Marvin moving from an attacker to a defensive midfield role or Anthony Romeo
moving from outside back
to midfield then to out-

Shenendehowa, senior midfield

Stats: 7 goals, 5 assists
Honors: 1st team Suburban
Council all-star, 1st team AllState
Notable: Whether it was as a
striker or a holding midfielder,
Marvin did whatever coach Jon
Bain asked of him well. The senior captains physicality gave
opponents no chance on 50-50
balls for the Section II Class AA
champion Plainsmen. Marvin
will continue his soccer career
at Division I UMass next fall.

out streak and season

ended in overtime of the
Class AA state semifinal to
Commack. Despite the 1-0
defeat, however, Bain was
pleased with the chances
his team created that day.
We came up a little bit
short but the boys played really, really well, Bain said.
We just werent quite able
to put one in the net. We
represented Shen well in
our style of play.

F Dante Cilento Sr. Shenendehowa

F Anders Trestick Sr. Ballston Spa
F Stephen Klimek Jr. Saratoga Springs
M Teddy Bruschini Jr. South Glens Falls
M Cody Kostrzebski Sr. South Glens Falls
M Garett Wysocki Sr. Schuylerville

M Mike Miner Sr. Shenendehwoa

M Kyle Clemens Sr. Shenendehowa
D Anthony Romeo Sr. Shenendehowa
D Ryan Buser Jr. South Glens Falls
GK Jerry Lewandowski Jr. Shenendehowa

HONORABLE MENTION

Marvin
FROM PAGE 1

move in stride.
Youve got to do what
the team needs you to
do, Marvin said. Coach
didnt need me up top but
he needed someone to
play defensive (midfield)
so I figured Id step up
and do it. It worked.
Work is a good description for the third year varsity players approach to
each game. Many teams
play with dual defensive
midfielders to cover more
ground. Marvin patrolled
that distance by himself,
winning so many challenges in the process that
50-50 balls were not as
even as their name would
suggest when he was involved.
I think he was one of
the biggest pieces to our
sectional and state run,
Bain said of Marvin. His
ability to be a shutdown
defender and distr ib ute the ball out of midfield was key to our success. As soon as he went
back there, the effect on
team wa s immediate.
It allowed to Miles Burbank to push forward and
I knew Tucker would hold
down the fort.
Despite playing further
from goal for the majority of the season, Marvin
still managed to score
seven times and provide
five assists. He was second on the team in scoring behind Burbanks six
goals and eight assists.
Being as versatile as
Marvin is on the field

F Nick Hitt Jr. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake

F Jose Mendoza Sr. Schuylerville
F Ryan Czarnecki Sr. Saratoga Central
Catholic
F Drew Lewis Sr. Shenendehowa
F Levi Ahl So. South Glens Falls
M Pat Kimmel Sr. South Glens Falls
M Taylor Hartman Jr. Galway
M Griffen MacWaters Jr. Ballston Spa
M Noah VanZandt Sr. Saratoga Springs
M Will Turner Sr. Saratoga Springs
M Aaron Sterngass Sr. Saratoga
Springs
M Ian Speck Sr. Burnt Hills-Ballston
Lake

M Colin Skiff Jr. Greenwich

M Brahe Gazzelli Sr. Stillwater
M Brody Cepiel So. Stillwater
M Justin Flanagan Jr. Stillwater
M Eric Krazuski Sr. Mechanicville
M Colby DeMarco Jr. Mechanicville
M Tyler Klingenberg Jr. Saratoga
Central Catholic
M Derek Moore Sr. South Glens Falls
D Adel Cekic Sr. Shenendehowa
D Mike Burkett Jr. Schuylerville
D Dom Taylor Jr. Schuylerville
GK Alex Gigliotti So. Burnt HillsBallston Lake
GK Brendan Martin Jr. Stillwater

didnt come easy. As a

youth he played different positions to improve
different aspects of his
game and trained with
his weaker left foot until
it became as useful as his
right one. All of that work
paid off his senior year.
Ever y match in the
Suburban Council provides its own challenges,
however.
S henendehow a su ffered a low point in the
season when it dropped
a match to Ballston Spa
3-2. The loss ultimately
cost the Plainsmen first
place in the Suburban
Council North and the
No. 1 seed in the Class
AA playoffs.
When sectionals began
in late October, however,
Shenendehowa avenged
the loss with a 6-0 rout
of Ballston Spa.
T he w in sparked a
nearly f lawless playoff
run in which the Plainsmen scored eight goals
and did not allow one in
four matches.
Ja me s Homa n, t he
other senior captain on
the squad, scored on a
header in the final to
clinch Shenendehowas
first Section II title since
2011.
The run continued in
the state regional match
when the Plainsmen took
down previously undefeated Fayetteville-Manlius 1-0 on a brilliant Michael Miner goal.
Looking back on the
season I think we did
everything we needed to
do, Marvin said of the
sectional title run. You
cant argue with regional

championships.
In the state seminal,
Mar v in sacrificed his
body over and over again
to keep Commacks top
player from creating any
scoring chances.
Despite creating a half
dozen qualit y scoring
chances, the Plainsmen
failed to score. Shenendehowas season ended
with a 1-0 overtime loss
and Commack went on to
win the Class AA state title.
Mar v in wa s named
a first team Suburban
C ou nc i l a l l- s t a r a nd
a first team A ll-State
player as a senior but his
favorite varsity goal occurred his sophomore
year.
It was against Shaker
in double over time at
Shaker, Marvin said. I
scored a left footed shot
that curled into the bottom corner of the net
from the top of the 18.
Ill always remember that
moment.
Mar vin has verbally
committed to continue
his soccer career at Division I UMass next season,
where he was recruited to
play as a forward or attacking midfielder. Until
then, the two sport athlete will shoot for another
sectional title of the year
with the Plainsmen ice
hockey team.
No matter what happens, however, it will be
tough for anything to top
his senior year of soccer.
Im going to miss it a
lot, Marvin said. This is
probably the best group
of guys Ive ever played
with.